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The Synth Punks

By Hugo Lindgren September 21, 2011 6:00 amSeptember 21, 2011 6:00 am

“You’ve gone back to friggin’ guitar, bass and drums, how can that be the future? Bloody hell.”

That’s Andy McCluskey, of the English synth-pop band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, circa 2000, reacting to the garage-rock bands that were suddenly all over. He was, to put it mildly, peeved. Once upon a time, OMD sounded as fearlessly futuristic as anything in pop music, and they were certain that their magical machines would render guitars obsolete. Now, well into middle age (and in the midst of an American tour that hits New York tonight), they sound like a glorious old vision of a future that never arrived. The emergence of synth pop coincided with that of punk rock in the late 1970s, and the two shared similar do-it-ourselves, reject-the-geezers values. But although synth pop was eminently more progressive and daring, it’s the punk rockers whom everybody looks back on with intense fondness and admiration. Who knows why this is? It could be as simple as that the guitar is such an awesome prop and that nobody has ever looked cool fingering notes on a synthesizer.

Whatever OMD may lack in stage presence, they make up for with songs. They had great danceable hits like “Enola Gay and “Electricity”, and they also indulged in sonic experiments that are just as appealing, if you can give them time to sink in.

To fully appreciate the genius of synth-pop, watch this cool BBC documentary from 2009:

Bruce Grierson wrote this week’s cover story about Ellen Langer, a Harvard psychologist who has conducted experiments that involve manipulating environments to turn back subjects’ perceptions of their own age.Read more…